Entertainment

The human face of the Egyptian uprising

When Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim waded into Cairo's Tahrir Square to document the early rumblings of revolution, she knew from the begining the story behind her latest film, "The Square," had to be told.
SOUNDBITE: Jehane Noujaim, director, saying (English):
"When I got to the square there were people of all different backgrounds; men, women, different classes, religious, secular. And they were all there basically having a hand in the future of their lives and their country for the first time, expressing how they felt politically about the country, discussing its future, and it was just this magical environment, and I knew that I wanted to figure out how I wanted to make a film about this."
The film follows the lives of several participants in the mass protests, putting a human face on a movement that involved millions.
SOUNDBITE: Jehane Noujaim, director, saying (English):
"What we were watching was the beginnings of democracy, you know, if you imagine, people never had these kinds of conversations in public for 30 years under this dictatorship, and here you had people learning how to have these conversations about the future of a country, political conversations, where the learning is that we can have a disagreement and be from radically different backgrounds, yet still be able to talk and be able to have a conversation about the future."
"The Square" already won big at the Toronto International Film Festival and Sundance.
And now, there's even buzz about the film being on a short list for an Oscar nomination, but Noujaim says she doesn't want to spoil her chances.
SOUNDBITE: Jehane Noujaim, director, saying (English):
"I don't want to jinx anything."
"The Square" will premiere in all Netflix territories on January 17.

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